Stop Letting Your Patio Go To Waste in the Winter
Let’s be honest: outdoor seating is basically dead weight once the temperature drops. Most people try to fix this with standard heaters, but those things are a joke in the open air. The heat just drifts away the second a breeze hits. That’s why we use short-wave infrared. Here’s the thing—it doesn’t bother trying to heat the air. Instead, it goes straight for the people and the furniture. It feels like sitting in the sun on a crisp October day. Even if you’ve got a 15mph wind ripping through your patio, your guests stay warm. You aren’t fighting the weather; you’re just keeping the person in the chair cozy. And for the business side of things? You need heat that actually works the moment someone sits down. We use units that hit their peak temperature instantly. No waiting around for a coil to warm up. Your guest sits, they feel the warmth, and they relax. We usually mount these on walls or overhead beams. It keeps the floors clear, which means your servers aren’t playing obstacle course with heater bases while carrying heavy trays. Just a heads-up: these high-wattage arrays pull a lot of power. Make sure your breaker panels can handle the load. The last thing you want is the lights going dark right in the middle of a Friday night dinner rush. Cold customers don’t stay long. When people are shivering, they skip the appetizers and rush through their mains just to get inside. But when the temperature feels right, they linger. They order that extra round of drinks or a dessert they weren’t planning on. Plus, you stop losing the “drive-by” crowd—the people who see a freezing patio and just keep driving to the next spot. Turning your patio into a year-round space changes the math for November and December. Sure, there’s an electricity bill, but that’s a tiny price to pay for the jump in covers per night. Pro tip: stick a zoned timer on the system. That way, you aren’t paying to heat empty tables.